Mounted search and rescue

["Chuck Daniel" <iwhound@voyager.net>]

> brings the count for Ohio to 7 teams.  Do you know of other MSAR
> teams in Ohio?  Yes there are several more, a new one starting up in Clark 
> County but I do not have the offical name yet.  I plan to be with them 
> this Sunday for a mock search and rescue hosted by Warren County group. 
> There is an other in Eastern Ohio, again I don't have a name.  During the 
> training this past week, we talked about networking.  If this goes as 
> planned then I will be able to aquire all the groups and pass this info 
> onto you.

> Tell us more about the course you attended, please.  How did the
> mounted portion of the course work?
The mounted portion of the course went wll since we did not have to deal 
with any obsticals while trying to learn to use the Garmin Rhino 120 gps. 
When one is learning to use new equipment from the back of a horse one 
focuses to much on the equipment and not your riding skills.  Also, the gps 
units required a little light touch to the buttons and joy stick, something 
not easly done on horse back.  The Garmin Rhino 120 gps is a great piece of 
equeipment for search and rescue since it incorporates a two radio and gps. 
The radio portion then allows interaction between multiple gps units.  In 
short, I can send my location to another rider who could be two miles away 
or I could mark a waypoint of some evidence and send that back to the 
command HQ.  I highly recommend this and the other Rhino units for mounted, 
foot and K-9 search and rescue units.


,
> thinking of next year and the costs and logistics of interstate
> travel with horses.  Last year my wife and I traveled from Ohio to the 
> Dakotas and Wyoming with our two gated horses.  We utlized parks and 
> equine bed and breakfast stop overs which can be found in a number of 
> publications.  The horses traveled well, though we monitored their water 
> intake at night.   On the rode they seemed to be uninterested in drinking. 
> You can supplement during the day by using wet hay and apple/carrots.  As 
> for cost,  you will eat up a lot of gas by pulling big rigs.  As for 
> driving, I just fell in behind the truckers and put it on Auto.  Would 
> suggest getting a CB if your going a long distance.  The truckers can keep 
> you informed on accidents and delays.  They can even help out by 
> suggesting alternate routes.  The last thing one wants is to be stuck in 
> traffic at a dead stop with a load of horses in the back.

Well that's all for now

Chuck and MEECO

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